Teachers

Our teachers offer traditional, time-tested teachings in a safe, gentle, effective manner.
They bring decades of experience, practice and training and deep dedication to their own inner growth,
revealed in their individual styles.

Bob Brach

Bob is a Yoga Alliance 200 hour Registered Yoga Teacher who was trained through the
Yoga Fit training program. While living in the Kansas City area, he taught yoga in
corporate and fitness center locations. Bob recently moved back to California in
June 2012. Bob also enjoys his personal practices of Insight Meditation and Tai Chi.

Har Anand Kaur was born in Argentina. Ever since she was a child, she was
passionate about activities related with the harmony in between humans,
nature and the cosmos. She is a Reiki practitioner, Feng Shui consultant,
practiced Buddhism for more than 20 years, an artist, a mother, and was a
dedicated student of Kundalini yoga for 5 years, until she decided to become
an instructor taught by Dr. Siri Gian Singh Khalsa (who's teacher was Yogi Bhajan).
A year ago, she received the international certificate of the Kundalini Research
institute and continues to study and practice this form of yoga each day.

She's lived in Sacramento for 14 years and loves living every day in Sacramento.
Har Anand Kaur is happy to share her experience and knowledge with the Hispanic community.

Karen Tercho

Karen, a certified Iyengar yoga teacher, has practiced Iyengar yoga since
1999 when she was captivated by the creativity and integrity of the style
as well as the high skill and knowledge levels of its teachers. She
believes that in fostering strength, symmetry, and an inner journey to
self-awareness, yoga results in more joy and less worry in the mind and
the body. She completed 350 hours of teacher training at the Iyengar
Institute of San Francisco (IYISF), and she is grateful for Kathy Alef,
Janet MacLeod, and Linda DiCarlo as her teachers and mentors, as well as
for the teachings of B.K.S. and Geeta Iyengar.

Linda Roye

Although Linda has been practicing yoga since her 20's, teaching became
her calling after retiring from a long career in the legal field. It began
informally with teaching a group of seniors at the YMCA, many of whom were
over the age of 80. Realizing the need for professional training, she enrolled
in a 200-hour teacher training program through It's All Yoga and, upon completing
the course requirements, began teaching her Healthy Aging Yoga class.

As a passionate believer in the benefits of yoga for all bodies regardless
of age or ability, Linda's class offers a gentle and focused approach that
supports balance, mobility and joint health.

In 2013, Linda completed additional training under Carol Krucoff and
Kimberly Carson at Duke Integrative Medicine in Durham, North Carolina,
and received a certificate in Therapeutic Yoga for Seniors.

When not planning, teaching or attending yoga classes, Linda enjoys
her other passions including gardening and working with clay.

Linda Nueva

Iyengar yoga is a continuous source of inspiration for Linda. It has provided a
well-spring of health and healing over the past twenty years. Yoga is an
integral part of her life, along with raising a family and working as an attorney.

Linda is a graduate of the 500-hour teacher training program at the Iyengar Yoga
Institute of San Francisco. She is grateful
to have studied at the Ramamani Iyengar Institute in Pune, India. She continues to
study with senior teachers in the Bay Area and India.

Weather permitting, she may often be found mid-day, mat under foot, in
the redwood grove near the California Legislature. Bilingual (English/Spanish),
teaching yoga at SYC is both a calling and a gift.

Mae Denmon

Mae began practicing yoga in 1974, and taught her first class in 1980.
Over her four decades of yoga experience, she has taught individuals and
groups in office locations, community centers, experimental colleges,
and private homes. Mae has studied Hatha Yoga with teachers of the Iyengar,
Kundalini, Ashtanga, Svoorpa, Bikram, Ananda, Kripalu, and Viniyoga traditions.
Mae has completed the Yoga Alliance certified teacher's training at the Kripalu
Center for Yoga, and maintains membership in the Kripalu Yoga Teachers
Association. In addition, she has completed Yoga Alliance certified
500 hour teacher's training at the American Viniyoga Institute with Gary
Kraftsow. Currently, she works with individuals privately as well in group
classes.

Manvir

Manvir has taught Kundalini Yoga in the Sacramento area for 18
years, having been certified to teach Kundalini by Dr. Siri Gian Singh Khalsa
in 1998. When a personal health challenge caused him to re-evaluate his life,
he felt guided to step into a more authentic sense of self, and to discover
how he could best serve others: by teaching Kundalini yoga as a sacred
spiritual path. He has a keen interest in how the disease process enters
the body, and how most illness can be traced to an entrenched belief system
owned by the individual being affected. He found that the spiritual technology of
Kundalini yoga is the perfect vehicle for healing body, mind, and spirit,
leading students toward their own infinite nature in the Aquarian Age.
Presenting the material in an easy-to-understand and heart-oriented style,
Manvir guides students in accordance with your individual body's tolerance
and needs in a safe and comfortable environment.

Moriah Myles

Breathe deeply in this moment, becoming present with what is. In this surrender
we align ourselves with truth and in this truth we reconnect with the Divine.
A union that is always there, but with the help of the eight-limb path is more
accessible, as the physical world and all the sparkle can pull us away.

I am: a creator of life. I believe everything is interlaced and the web that
holds us will unfold as it should, if we trust. With this guidance, I found my
way to a beautiful studio (the Soul of Yoga) in Encinitas, CA and completed my
200 hour Hatha yoga training.

I am: rooted into the Earth. I believe in healing, myself and others and
Mother Earth. When we practice together, we amplify the vibration for all.

I am: an artist. In all avenues of my life I allow myself joy by - dance,
drum circles, song circles, sacred rituals, being in nature, laughing with
my children, swimming, and knowing they are all intertwined and are apart
of my practice.

I am: a seeker of truth. I believe in showing up for my practice, to
nourish my soul and nourish my connection.

Sandi Russi

Sandi Russi is a certified Ananda Yoga Instructor who has been practicing
yoga for over 20 years, and began teaching in 2000. Sandi joined
Sacramento Yoga Center in 2002 and assisted Divya Devi, SYC founder,
in establishing SYC as one of the first and oldest yoga studios in the area.

Sandi considers herself a student as well as a teacher and over the
years, has benefited from participating in a wide variety of classes
including including Iyengar, Svaroopa, restorative, vinyasa, Bikram,
and Kundalini yoga. Learning something from each class, she integrates
specific techniques and tips into her own teaching style. Above all,
Sandi is focused on bringing the essence of yoga to her students,
teaching traditional hatha yoga designed to strengthen and stretch
the body, release stress, calm the mind and enhance self-awareness.
You'll leave her class feeling nurtured, uplifted, re-energized and
more deeply aware of your own inner peace. Sandi is adept at modifying
poses and leads each class according to the needs of her students.

Shannon Mitra

Shannon Mitra has been a certified, Yoga Alliance-registered yoga
instructor since 2014. In Spring 2016, Shannon began teaching a
weekly yoga class for active seniors, with an emphasis on chair yoga.
Shannon is also an experienced kids' yoga teacher and has taught vinyasa
flow yoga classes for adults of all ages. Shannon's teaching philosophy
is simple: regardless of the type of yoga or the age and ability of the
yogi, the breath work, the focus, the physical challenge, and the
commitment to this practice get us out of our heads to experience the
feeling of deep connection and lightness of being.

Siri Ajeet

Laughter is the best medicine... and Siri Ajeet Kaur - a native of France and
Kundalini Yoga teacher - is on a mission to bring health, happiness and joy to
all in the Sacramento community and beyond through the practice of Laughter Yoga
(Hasya Yoga). Siri Ajeet received education in healing arts and sciences and has
worked in natural health and wellness with some of the best doctors in the area.
Her life purpose is to help, heal, empower, inspire, and elevate as many people
as possible to reach optimal health and happiness through Yoga and other holistic
therapies. Siri Ajeet started practicing and studying Kundalini Yoga in 2008 and
received her Kundalini Yoga Teacher Certification from the Kundalini Research
Institute in 2013. Currently her main focus - along with raising her family -
is leading Laughter Yoga sessions. Siri Ajeet got a taste of Hasya Yoga a few
years ago and felt called to bring this simple yet profound practice to Sacramento.
She received her Laugher Yoga Leader Certification from the Laugher Yoga University
in the beginning of 2016.

Yoga Teacher Subs

Our yoga teacher subs provide continuity for students by teaching in
the style of the teacher that is unavailable. They have previously
participated in the class for which they may sub becoming familiar
with the teacher's students and particular yoga style.

Alexa Meek

Alexa Meek has a deep love for Kundalini Yoga and meditation.
Having practiced yoga for over five years, she is a very dedicated yoga student,
practitioner and teacher. After sharing the practice of yoga for several years,
she decided it was time to take a certified training. In 2012 she completed an
100hr Assistant Teacher Training at Yoga Shala with Tyler Langdale; July of 2013
she completed a 16 day intensive 200hr RYT at Yandara Yoga Institute in Baja California.
Her continuing education includes 60hr Yin Intensive Training with James Kapicka and in
July 2015 she completed her 220hr Level One Kundalini Teacher Training with lead teacher
Krishna Kaur, 10th Gate Yoga in Los Angeles.

She is very passionate about teaching and elevating her students. As a
Kundalini Yoga teacher, Alexa offers a supportive environment to grow
and challenge ourselves as we explore the powerful kriyas and meditations
that the tradition of Kundalini Yoga offers.
Her classes are fun, playful, and heart-opening.

She has lived in Sacramento for four years with her husband of 25 years who also is a Yoga Instructor.
They have four children and four grandchildren. You can find her teaching at East Sac Mercy
Cancer Center, St. John's Women's Shelter, Golden Palms Community Center and has a weekly
Kundalini class at Yoga Shala Arden. She taught and assisted with Yoga Across America and
Yoga in the Park as well as Soil Born Farms.

Alexa's mission is to inspire, elevate and encourage as many people as
possible to live to their fullest, most creative and most joyful potential.

Prasanna Hankins

Prasanna is a Yoga Alliance 200 hour Registered Yoga Teacher, who was certified
in the Ananda Yoga style at The Expanding Light in Nevada City, CA.
She has been practicing yoga since 1998; first in the Iyengar style, then switching
to Ananda Yoga in 2004 after discovering its unique style. Though Ananda Yoga is
a traditional Hatha Yoga style, Prasanna enjoys the added affirmations and focus
upon physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual awareness. Prasanna follows a spiritual
yogic tradition including postures, meditation, and kriya as taught by Paramahansa Yogananda.
When not teaching yoga, Prasanna offers energy healing, runs the Healing Arts Festival,
plays in her garden, and is a wife, a mother to two kids, and has two beautiful dogs.

Perry Gee

Perry is a certified yoga teacher, having received the 500 hour Advanced
Studies certification from the Yoga Room in Berkeley. He has practiced
yoga since 1993, and has since studied primarily with Iyengar trained teachers,
including Juliet Heizman, Alan Nett, and Mary Lou Weprin. He also owes much
to the writings of Donald Moyer, Judith Lasater, and B.K.S. Iyengar.

Perry started practicing yoga at the age of 42, and knows how much yoga has
to give to people who have lost strength and flexibility in their bodies.
While he teaches students of all ages, he believes that he has something
special to give to students as they age. Teaching awareness, patience and
comfort in their bodies to older students is one of his primary motivations
for teaching yoga.

Perry has a Masters degree in Philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh,
and a Masters degree in Physics from the University of California, Davis.
Besides teaching yoga, he currently works as a researcher in Astronomy at
the UC Davis Department of Physics.

Tina DeFelice

Before I was able to experience yoga for myself I thought it was for
an elite group of people that had a completely different lifestyle
then the one I live. But when I was given the opportunity to try it
out in a comfortable non pretentious setting I was able to understand
that yoga is something that everyone might want to experience for
themselves at least once in their lifetime.

It can be a great personal discovery. I would like to help guide
people to find that for themselves because it`s a beautiful thing.

Jeff Wilson

Actively pursuing spiritual understanding since the early '70s,
Jeff Wilson became a member of the Vedanta Society in 1975. He
considers himself a student of Vedanta, certainly not a teacher,
and would enjoy serving you with tea, chocolates, and readings
from Vedantic texts. Jeff's role in this group is to provide
an environment where a
person can safely ask themselves and discuss with others more
substantial questions about life; he would like to maintain an
environment free from dogmatism, sectarianism, and inflated egos on parade.